The Survivor
by Jane-Alenko
Summary: The first story in my new series, Shepard Origins. Asara Shepard was just a regular colonist before the attack, she lost everything & now devotes herself to protecting the helpless & nothing else. When she's stationed on the Normandy everything changes, she tries to keep herself withdrawn from the crew but can't help keeping her emotions locked away anymore.
1. Introduction

This story is the first in a series I'm going to be doing following all of my Shepards stories, before Mass Effect, through it & after Mass Effect 3. I'm nicknaming it Shepard Origins (heh original right? Like X-Men Origins, yeah I didn't think of that myself).

This first story follows my main Shepard, Asara, who is a Colonist, War Hero & 100% paragon. Unlike my other fics, the chapters won't always be the same length, some may be snippets or may be very long. I'm going to focus more on the stuff that happens in between & after missions, rather than combat & main storyline material.

I'd love love love feedback for this story, because if people don't like it then I'll probably not do another Shepard in the future. All my other stories will continue to be updated, but since they're longer chapters they will be updated less frequently, if you haven't noticed already.

Enjoy!


	2. Chapter 1 - Restless

**Mindoir - 2170  
**

* * *

It was a cold and empty night, the silence enveloping me like a mothers embrace as I walked across the snow dusted fields. The light of the moons flickered out over the barren land and reflected over the snow, brightening the night with a grey glow. The snow crunched under me as I lay down in the snow, my eyes bright with the stars twinkling down at me.

A face looms over me, blocking the night sky from my vision. The same pale blue eyes as my own stare down at me.

"What's wrong?" He asks, laying down beside me.  
"Can't sleep, there's just this nagging feeling I can't shake." I say, moving closer to his body warmth.

I don't know what I'd do without my brother, my twin. He's always been the steady reassuring force in my life, like the ground beneath my feet. When one of us is hurt or upset, the other can feel it. We just do. I can't explain it and don't care to. It could be the physical bond we had when we were in the womb. Or maybe it's because we're each one part of a whole. Regardless, nobody could ever separate us growing up and now people don't even try. If one of us goes someplace, the other isn't far behind. There is no one I love more.

We lay in the snow until I start shivering. He pulls me up, and we dust the snow off each other before heading inside. I don't have to ask him to stay with me tonight, he just knows. We climb into bed and curl around each other like we had when we were babies. I fall asleep without a second thought.


	3. Chapter 2 - The Raid

**Mindoir - 2170  
**

* * *

A scream rips through my peaceful sleep and jolts me awake. I reach out for my brother, but he's not there. Panic swells through me as I fumble in the dark. More screams join the first as I search blindly.

"Nathan?" I whisper frantically.  
"They're coming." He answers, his voice cutting through the dark like steel.  
"Who!?"

He doesn't answer, instead I feel something strong grip my hand and pull me out of my room. We rush downstairs, my mother's usual calm and graceful demeanor is replaced with something cold and calculating. My father rushes around the house like a maniac and brandishes guns I've never seen before.

"What's going on?" I choke out, terror coiling around my heart.  
"We don't know, but you have to do what we tell you. When we tell you to run, you run and don't you dare look back. We love you so much, please be strong for us." My dad says, drawing both us in a crushing hug. My mother comes over, the tears in her eyes saturating the deep shades of blue in them, and kisses us each on the cheek. I've never seen my parents like this, it scares me.

Gunshots sound from outside, deep guttural voices coming closer and closer. My parents motion for us to be quiet and hide as they turn the lights off, disappearing into the darkness. Light dances in through the windows, dim at first then growing in strength. There is creaking outside the door and the shadow of a figure reflects on the wall. It moves around the house, peering inside windows before returning to where it started. The figure mutters something and is answered by others who soon retreat.

The glass shatters as a torch is thrown in, the flames quickly lapping at our furnishings. The smoke spreads throughout the house, the smell of metal assaulting my nose and throat. I hold my brothers hand tighter as I watch my parents force open the door. They usher us out, and relief washes over me but is quickly snatched away when rough hands grip my shoulders. I look up into the eyes of my assailant, a batarian, as he smiles and rips me from my brother. My parents rush out, guns in hand and I hear a shot go off, something warm seeps down my shoulders and back. The pressure on my arms is gone, and I turn to see the batarian fall to the ground.

"RUN!" My mother shouts at us, the gun shot drawing attention.

My brother pulls me away from our home and away from town. We can still see our house on fire when something pierces my leg and I fall. The pain is blinding as I try to find my brother but he too is down. I look back at the house, a raging inferno now, to see my parents overwhelmed and disabled. Footsteps near me draw my attention, as an armored foot comes into view and its the last thing I see before everything turns black.


	4. Chapter 3 - Bloodlust

**Mindoir - 2168  
**

* * *

_'Come on Ara, just jump already!'_

I stood at the edge of a cliff overlooking the lake that her friends were now swimming in. I hated heights. But everyone had done it and I didn't want to be the only one who didn't. Drawing in a deep breath, I steadied myself when a hand slipped into mine.

'Together?' My brother asked.  
'You won't let go?' I questioned nervously.  
'Never.'

**Mindoir - 2170  
**

* * *

When I finally wake up, my head throbs in pain, cold metal presses against my cheek, and my mouth has been gagged. I open my eyes only to darkness, something blocking my vision. My hands are tightly bound behind my back and my bare feet also lay bound. I try to see through my blind but the room is dark, giving me nothing.

I feel the heavy rumble of footsteps nearing, the deep and harsh voices returning. I'm jerked upright by rough hands and the blind is removed from my eyes. The light blinds me for a moment and I blink away the white spots that cloud my vision as the pain in my head sharpens. Glancing around the unfamiliar space, my brother and parents are beside me, as is most of the town.

The batarians speak among themselves before turning back to us and to my horror, pull my parents out of the line. They position them in front of the group, and one of them addresses us.

"You two are too much trouble and have killed many of my men. You have lost and should not have come to this planet. Let this be an example to the rest of you that get any ideas of trying to fight us." The batarian says, pulling their heads back.

My brother and I watch helpless as he takes a knife to their throats. I stare into the eyes of my mother, expecting anything but the usual calm and peace that resides in the deep oceans of her eyes. Tears run down her cheeks as she gags, life leaving her as she falls to the ground. Even near death my father's eyes scream defiance as they fade into the darkness. His words echo in my mind, _'Be strong for us.'_

A small stream of their blood trails across the floor to me as my eyes finally relinquish the tears that have building there. My headache forgotten, emotions that I hadn't even known were bottled up inside, explode and ripple through me. Each mounting higher and higher before I can't concentrate on anything else.

They begin moving everyone out of the room, but my eyes never stray from my parents bodies. When they come for my brother and I, their jarring remarks and teases push me off the edge. The world turns blue as my binds break around me and the batarians are flung back.

Electricity surges around me in my rage as I step toward them, imaging their life draining from them as they look up at me in fear. Their eyes widen in pain and I feel strange, all the aches and pain I had earlier vanishing. I watch as they keel over, grasping their heads and their eyes clenched in pain until they slump down on the floor, dead.

I stare at them confounded. _I killed them._


	5. Chapter 4 - Absence

**Mindoir - 2170  
**

* * *

I collapse to my knees, panic swelling around me. They're dead because of _me._ I killed someone. My brother tries to say something, the words muffled by his gag, and it brings me back to right now, how much danger we're still in. I turn around and untie him.

"It's okay, it's okay. Right now we just need to focus on getting out of here." He says, shaking me lightly.  
"But wait, what about mom and dad?" I ask, looking over to their lifeless forms.  
"There's nothing we can do, they're...they're gone." He says, choking back tears.

He releases me to pick up the dead batarians weapons and hands me a pistol. We walk over to the door and he opens it, peeking around the corner. Slipping into the hallway, he motions to follow him. He stops in front of a door, kneeling in front of the console, his omni-tool sputtering to life.

"Almost got it..." He mutters.

Suddenly a blaring alarm goes off and shouting from down the hall can be heard. He curses as his finger fly across the console and his omni-tool. The door opens as the voices get closer, sunlight streams inside the hall.

We run across the threshold and through the open cargo bay door. Shots go off as we run and my brother yelps in pain as a bullet pierces his leg. I pull him behind a tree, bullets nailing the tree.

He grunts in pain as I rip his pant leg up to see the damage. The bullet hit him in the thigh and is still lodged in his leg.

"Asara, you need to leave me. I'll slow you down. Go, escape, _live_. For the both of us. I know what I have to do." He says, grasping my hands in his.  
"No, I can't. I need you, I don't know what to do without you. Please, Nathan, _don't do this." _I plead, tears overflowing as I try to keep his hands in mine.  
"I love you." He says, standing & kissing the top of my head before he turns and limps out into the open.

I scream his name out and watch his body jerk as bullets pierce him. I know I should run but I can't pull myself away and leave him. He falls and I tear my eyes away and run into the forest. There is a pain in my chest that grows in strength the farther I move away from my brother, my last friend and family. It feels as if I've forgotten something, a piece of myself is missing. Gone forever.

* * *

I don't know how long I run, but the light has faded from the world when I crawl into a fallen tree. I curl up around myself as reality settles around me.

I am completely alone for the first time in my life.


	6. Chapter 5 - Whispers

**Mindoir - 2170**

* * *

Time passes around me, oblivious to the storm raging inside me. My emotions eat me alive, consuming me with their strength as I sob. I replay the images of my family dying again and again, unable to think of anything else.

Only when I start uncontrollably coughing does my mind stray. I crawl out of the log into a forest of fire. My face burns with the heat of the inferno as I turn to flee again. They're coming for me.

The forest grows dark again as I race from the fire, the batarians hot on my heels. I stumble over the uneven floor and trip over an edge I didn't see. I fall over the cliff, tumbling down and hitting rocks as I make my descent. My back slams onto the hard ground and a cry of pain escapes my mouth. I try to get up but the pain in my back is excruciating.

I don't even know why I bother running anymore, my family is dead, gone. Everyone I knew. Death seems like a paradise now. I can hear them getting closer, but I don't move. I'm as good as dead.

My brothers voice rings in my ears suddenly, urging me to get up. I look around, searching for the source but see nothing. Then I hear my mothers, my fathers, and my friends voices joining in. I open my eyes to blurred figures around me, each whispering encouraging words.

_Don't let them win._

I do what they say, rolling onto my stomach and managing to stand without blacking out. The figures lead me through the woods as I limp, numbness settling in my legs.

I can hear a river up ahead, the water racing over the stones below and winding through the forest floor. They lead me to a fallen tree laying half in the water and help me onto it, before I can ask what they're doing they push me off into the water and I cling to the log. I glance back at the shore to find nothing and no one.

I drift for miles and eventually I can see the sun begin to peek over the horizon, light seeping through the leaves of the canopy. As the water pulls me farther away, my mind wanders into sleep, my body spent.


End file.
